Water Earth and Air are the common denominator that humans, and the rest of earth’s occupants, rely upon to live. Earth’s human inhabitants are destroying all three.  Earth’s social conscious, middle class inhabitants, are striving to strut their stuff by contributing to over consumption.

Mobility has allowed humans to blend and mix cocktails of microscopic organisms that include bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa; microscopic plants (green algae); and animals such as rotifers and planarians. Some microbiologists also include viruses. Microorganisms live in all parts of the biosphere where there is liquid water, including soil, hot springs, on the ocean floor, high in the atmosphere and deep inside rocks within the Earth’s crust.  Anyone who travels, shares microorganisms from their environment and their personal lives. But, these same travelers bring new and exotic microorganisms back home with them… and drop them off everywhere along the way.  The microscopic footprint from mammals, birds and insects are responsible for all the plagues throughout history. Fire can sanitize it all …

Humanity, the thinking mammals, have the technology that would allow more of earth’s population to enjoy clean water, air and tillable land. Advanced resources are abundant, but remain the toys of the wealthy.  Bragging rights abound for anyone who can afford to install solar power, wind power, water filtration systems and water recapture systems.  Some fortunate communities encourage recycling and renewable energy.  These communities are indeed fortunate because, the vast majority of communities cannot even afford to fix their broken infrastructure and have to lay off Fire, Police, First Responder and Teacher employees … at a time when they are needed the most.

For over five years I have been posting everything I can find, to alert everyone about the dwindling water resources we depend on to sustain our lives.  That water not only comprises around 70% of our bodies, it also grows the plant and animal foods our bodies require. 

The global intelligence level does not include responsible behavior for future survival. There are recent correlations between, and among, general chemical influences modern humans are exposed to, that determine how badly our collective intelligence has been damaged. There is plenty of specific research that identifies certain contaminates, and their effects on IQ and behavior, in general. However, effects on humans by combining contaminants, is an open ended challenge, equivalent to the space program.  Short and long term effects of mixed contaminants and varied exposures, on humans, change daily.  The study of these effects is called EPIDEMIOLOGY.  I have not heard meaningful public discussion about the results of any epidemiological findings about the toxins and contaminants Americans and other nations are exposed to.  What I have found are numerous scientific treatises in professional scientific journals.  The EPA has not been updated since 2003.

The power of disease and deadly microbes have changed world history over and over since time began. Disease follows climate changes and removes whole species.  This is why epidemiology is so crucial to the survival of the current occupants of this planet.

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and patterns of health-events, health-characteristics and their causes or influences in well-defined populations. It is the cornerstone method of public health research and practice, and helps inform policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive medicine and public policies.

What happens when the collective IQ of nations is chemically reduced by ingesting toxic contaminants? The state of the world today is a glaring example of global Attention Deficit Disorder.  Current events show the inability of world leaders to think forward, with knowledge, about the consequences of their actions and inaction. Selfish partisan behavior exemplifies “divided we fall”..

Maybe Mother Nature is serious about cleaning her house to allow for a different species to populate her.  First she must use the inattention of the current species to eliminate them.

The broad intellectual abilities are:^[7]

• Fluid intelligence (Gf) includes the broad ability to reason, form concepts, and solve problems using unfamiliar information or novel procedures.
• Crystallized intelligence(Gc) includes the breadth and depth of a person’s acquired knowledge, the ability to communicate one’s knowledge, and the ability to reason using previously learned experiences or procedures.
  

  

• Quantitative reasoning (Gq) is the ability to comprehend quantitative concepts and relationships and to manipulate numerical symbols.
• Reading and writing ability (Grw) includes basic reading and writing skills.
• Short-term memory (Gsm) is the ability to apprehend and hold information in immediate awareness, and then use it within a few seconds.
• Long-term storage and retrieval (Glr) is the ability to store information and fluently retrieve it later in the process of thinking.
• Visual processing (Gv) is the ability to perceive, analyze, synthesize, and think with visual patterns, including the ability to store and recall visual representations.
• Auditory processing (Ga) is the ability to analyze, synthesize, and discriminate auditory stimuli, including the ability to process and discriminate speech sounds that may be presented under distorted conditions.
• Processing speed (Gs) is the ability to perform automatic cognitive tasks, particularly when measured under pressure to maintain focused attention.
• Decision/reaction time/speed (Gt)reflects the immediacy with which an individual can react to stimuli or a task (typically measured in seconds or fractions of seconds; it is not to be confused with Gs, which typically is measured in intervals of 2–3 minutes). See Mental chronometry.

Which of these measurements of human intelligence is your school failing to address?  Do your students understand cause and effect?  Do your students understand how microorganisms are our co-inhabitants on this planet and we must be careful to distinguish which ones will harm us?  Do your students understand that their personal behavior effects anyone who is around them or who follows behind them?

The EPAs Drinking Water Research Program:  The 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) direct EPA to conduct research to strengthen the scientific foundation for standards that limit public exposure to drinking water contaminants. EPA is also charged to identify groups that may be at greater risk than the general population following exposure to contaminants in drinking water.  EPA’s “Long Term Goals” were drafted in 2003! Little has been done to implement those goals!

In 2008 I posted Why Is Bubonic Plague in America?

As advanced as America is, it is appalling that such diseases as Bubonic Plague and Legionnaires Disease and Hanta Virus still occur.  Some of the simplest and easiest precautions are not addressed by those in authority or by individuals. The expansion of suburban and urban populations into natural areas that are no longer pristine, have squeezed animals into an overcrowded condition.  Overcrowded conditions have the same consequences for nature as it does for society. Forward thinking, would take into account the additional risks people will take when intruding upon overcrowded reservations we have pushed mother nature into. Overcrowding breeds disease. As beautiful and awesome as mother nature is, we, as a species, are subject to her rules.  Bubonic Plague is a condition our ancestors found themselves in and slowly took remedial corrections, once they made the connection.  Superstition and ignorance and mother nature’s rules reduced populations in overcrowded Europe.  Don’t let the same thing happen in America.

Is There a Cure for the Bubonic Plague?

7-year-old Colo. girl recovers from bubonic plague

Hantavirus: Two people have died following an outbreak at California’s Yosemite National Park of a rare lung disease caused by contact with faeces and urine from infected rodents.

There are still headlines showing water and air borne diseases as recent as this week.  But, what do our lovely conservative candidates prefer to talk about? Religion and Oil Based initiatives, on the surface.  Exclusivity and greed in the small print.

The GOP is more concerned about protecting the same industries that contribute to the overcrowding,  pollution and contamination of Water Air and Land … The de-regulation Republicans insist will help “small business”, is really intended to give large industries free reign to dump whatever they want wherever they want at will.  Have you ever heard of SUPERFUND?  The whole concept of SUPERFUND is that once company has been identified as responsible for polluting and contaminating, the company conveniently declares bankruptcy to avoid cleanup responsibilities.  So, who pays for the cleanup? Taxpayers!  In 1979, President Carter proposed cleanup legislation for the worst examples of toxic contamination. Hello Superfund.

Some scientists are collecting vital information that we need in the common knowledge base …

Thank you Jennifer Willford, Ph.D. for the area of research you are pursuing:

… neurobiological impairments that occur as a result of prenatal drug exposure. Damage to the developing brain is one of the most serious consequences of prenatal drug exposure. My research projects examine the effects of prenatal drug exposure on core cognitive abilities such as working memory, attention, and reward processing, which are integral to more complex cognitive behaviors including executive functions such as planning, cognitive flexibility, and self-regulation. I use both neuropsychological and neuroimaging tools to identify the links between prenatal drug exposure and cognitive deficits.

… the interactions between immune, mood, and cognitive function in children with chronic medical conditions. This translational work combines neuropsychological testing and brain imaging as well as physiological, neuro-immunological, and genetic tools to understand how disease and emotional states affect cognitive development in children with a chronic medical illness.

Neurotoxicology and Teratology (NEUROTOXICOL TERATOL) Journal: presents original reports of systemic studies in the areas of adult neurotoxicology and developmental neurotoxicology in which the primary emphasis and theoretical context are on the nervous system and/or behavior. The Journal publishes original, peer-reviewed studies that cover the developmental and adult neurotoxicity of pesticides, drugs of abuse, pharmaceuticals, solvents, heavy metals, organometals, general industrial-use compounds, marine and plant toxins, atmospheric reaction compounds, and physical agents such as radiation and noise. Neurotoxicology and Teratology also features Brief Communications that concisely describe a new method, technique, or apparatus and experimental results. Invited Reviews and Open Peer Commentary series provide a timely update on selected aspects of a scientific field undergoing rapid change or on areas that present special methodological or interpretive problems.

Particulate matter (PM) has been linked to a range of serious respiratory and cardiovascular health problems: Air Quality and Climatic Impacts of Residential Biomass or Coal Combustion for Cooking, Heating, and Lighting. … exposure to ambient particulate matter include: premature mortality, aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular disease (as indicated by increased hospital admissions and emergency room visits, school absences, work loss days, and restricted activity days), aggravated asthma, acute respiratory symptoms, chronic bronchitis, decreased lung function, and increased risk of myocardial infarction. Recent epidemiologic studies estimate that exposures to PM may result in tens of thousands of excess deaths per year, and many more cases of illness among the US population.

 Many U.S. Schools Are Unprepared for Another Pandemic

ScienceDaily (Aug. 30, 2012) — Less than half of U.S. schools address pandemic preparedness in their school plan, and only 40 percent have updated their school plan since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, according to a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

Disease is spread by direct contact with carriers or ingesting contaminated food, air or water. Most risks can be managed with good basic hygiene and common sense.

In 2009 I posted  Blame Sloppy Hygiene For H1N1, Not The Pigs.

Predicting Outbreaks of Dengue Fever According to Climate

August 22, 2012 — Dengue fever, transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, affects hundreds of millions of people in around one hundred tropical countries and causes 25,000 deaths per year. In the absence of a vaccine, …

Sewage systems, liquid waste and bio-hazards spill into creeks causing health concerns in communities downstream. Not only does mother nature spill human waste products (including Superfund Sites) with her weather events and earth moving events, mankind has a history of underestimating safety precautions for many of their own risky endeavors. Water Earth and Air are the common denominator that humans and the rest of earth’s occupants rely upon to live and we are fouling all of them.

For the 2012 Presidential and Congressional elections in  America, the focus needs to be WHAT IS AMERICA DOING TO MAKE AMERICA AND THE WORLD MORE HOSPITABLE TO HUMANS!  If the solution to all the world’s problems was encouraging MORE irresponsible consumption of fossil fuels, then the Romney-Ryan road is the way to go.  If the solution to growing disparity between the prepared and unprepared is to dispose of the un-preparable, then buy in to a narrow theocratic ideology.

• Energy independence by 2020 by fully developing our resources, creating 3 million jobs in the process;
• Opening our entire coastline to oil drilling;
• Slashing environmental regulations and reviews to “streamline” the permitting process;
• Building the Keystone XL Pipeline;
• Turning decisions about energy development on federal lands over to the states;
• Working more closely with Canada and Mexico;
• Getting government out of the way and partnering with the private sector.

Ask any Republican about the Keystone Pipeline, they will jump with joy that it will save jobs and protect America’s energy.  Nowhere is any concern that it can contaminate the Ogallala Aquifer, high water tables and sandy soil regions that could be vulnerable to a leak from the pipeline. This Aquifer serves the entire central US with good water.

At least in Britain, the scientists of the Royal Society are fighting back. “Policy debate these days involves trying to rubbish the science, and that is dangerous,” Nobel Prize Winner, Sir Paul Nurse says. “Global warming denialists, those who oppose genetically modified crops and vaccinations, or the teaching of evolution: their trick is treat scientific argument as if it’s a political argument, and cherry-pick data.”

Sir Paul Nurse wonders how it is that a nation that produces the wonders of Silicon Valley and great research centers in New York, Boston, Baltimore and Rochester, Minn., to name just a few,has large stretches where the theory of evolution is not taught.  “You don’t hear these debates in New York City, or indeed on either coast,” he says. “I wonder if American science would thrive if it were based in Kansas.”  Still, he reminds himself that he is a foreigner looking in the window. “Americans tend to like extremes. It’s either ‘We are on top of the world!’ or ‘The world is falling apart!’ ”

The Global Warming Policy Foundation  in a recent report, “Nullius in Verba: The Royal Society and Climate Change.” (The Latin expression is the society’s motto; it translates roughly as “Take nobody’s word for it.”) James Delingpole, the waggishly influential conservative blogger for The Telegraph, lampoons Dr. Nurse as “easily my favorite Nobel Prize winner after Yasir Arafat, Al Gore and Barack Obama. What happens to science in the United States, for good and ill, is too important to ignore.

The bottom line shows that British politics is being bought and paid for by the same industries that have taken the United States down an UN-sustainable road.  There are few options remaining once the finite resources are used up or contaminated beyond usefulness.

From the vantage point of BossKitty, America in all it’s diverse glory has missed too many points of light to illuminate their way safely through current events.  Attempts to correct some of the man made causes for accelerating resource reduction and promoting necessary hygiene to slow the terminal point, have taken a back seat to profiteering.  With sadness, Mitt Romney is no longer a hopeful character, standing out from the conservative crowd that hijacked the Republican agenda.  When you vote, and you must, please vote for a responsible ‘future thinking’ leader… before America is totally incapable of saving itself.

Feedback point #1: No, we cannot stop climate change, but we can better prepare ourselves for it and make it less uncomfortable.

Feedback point #2: Disease does follow climate change, we can also better prepare ourselves for that inevitability, because we do have the technology and we know much more than we have prepared for.

Feedback point #3: Some people don’t think we can control politicians, but if enough of our votes are educated, we can make a difference. Power-mongers can underestimate real voters who question deceptive advertising.

Feedback point #4:  Most people only react to consequences, but forward thinking and demanding honest advertising, each and every one of us, with enough information, can elect less careless leaders.

Feedback point #5: Forgot to define “Particulate matter,” also known as particle pollution or PM, is a complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets. Particle pollution is made up of a number of components, including acids (such as nitrates and sulfates), organic chemicals, metals, and soil or dust particles.  The size of particles is directly linked to their potential for causing health problems. EPA is concerned about particles that are 10 micrometers in diameter or smaller because those are the particles that generally pass through the throat and nose and enter the lungs. Once inhaled, these particles can affect the heart and lungs and cause serious health effects.

Feedback point #6:  Agreed, profitability determines what vaccines are made available. Yes, the pharmaceutical industry will only provide vaccines addressing the largest consumer base. However, if the largest consumer base can preempt the necessity for those medications, fewer vaccines will be necessary.  Avoiding Dengue Fever exposure, preventing contamination is difficult but possible.

Quoting my consultant: “In fact…that really is the bottom line for everything … is it profitable? …Can someone or some group make a ton of money to address it”?  

Is this the future of America’s water?.

TIME’s Mobile Tech Issue: Tracking Disease One Text at a Time